On Friday 28th January 2011, Joel Garcia and Callum Blunt of The Ridgeway School and Sixth Form College held a quiz in aid of The Prospect Hospice, a local charity.

The quiz was aimed at anyone of any age, and participants could enter in teams of up to six people.

In total, 30 teams arrived – including a mixture of teachers, students, and parents – to join in the fun.

There were nine question rounds, and two picture rounds. There were a variety of different themes such as music, current affairs, sports and food & drink, and everyone got really stuck in and competitive as the quiz went on.

After each round the scores were taken and a running total was up on a scoreboard at the front.

At half time a game of Irish bingo (it’s like bingo, except when your number is called you sit down, and the last man standing wins the prize) was played to spice things up a bit, and to raise more money for the chosen charity with tickets selling at 50p each.

There were plenty of refreshments on offer throughout, which added to the fundraising.

The second half consisted of the remaining rounds, and a raffle to finish off with, with strips sold for £1 each.

There were around 10 prizes for the raffle, including vouchers to various restaurants around Swindon, kindly donated by the local businesses themselves.

After the quiz had finished and the scores were being totted up, the raffle was done and everyone took the last opportunity to buy snacks before eagerly awaiting the results.

Given that there was a range of different teams from Year 7s to their grandparents and teachers and other year groups, it was decided that there would be both a children’s prize and an adult’s prize to even things out a bit and to make them fair.

The winning children’s team was a group of Year 11s, and they scored 90 points in total, only five points behind the actual winning team of teachers, who scored 95 points overall.

The night as a whole was a complete success, and Joel and Callum were amazing hosts and organisers, and definitely deserve some sort of recognition as they managed to make a massive £758.45 for the Prospect Hospice.

It started off as a small idea and in the end it turned out to be something pretty big and an entertaining night for all involved.

I for one had a great night, and I think it’s an excellent way of raising money for charities in the local area, and I would love to go to another one in the future. It was a fun way to spend my Friday evening and I know others really enjoyed it too, and the whole room was filled with a positive vibe during the whole thing.

So thank you, Joel and Callum, for a wonderful evening and a brilliant quiz, and I am sure The Prospect Hospice will be very thankful when they receive this sum of money! Well done!

Swindon Advertiser: Blob By Amber Stevenson, 16, The Ridgeway School